£10 million available for English farmers to create new woodlands

Administered by the Forestry Commission, the Woodland Carbon Guarantee is a government scheme designed to increase woodland planting rates and help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Of the total £50 million funding pot, £10 million is being made available to provide a new income stream in the form of long-term payments to farmers and land managers for the amount of carbon stored in new woodlands.

Following an online auction process, successful bidders will have the opportunity to sell woodland carbon in the form of Woodland Carbon Units (a monetary value assigned to each tonne of carbon stored) to the Government over 35 years at a guaranteed price protected against inflation.

The scheme underlines the government’s confidence in the continued growth of the woodland carbon market, as landowners will continue to benefit from a reliable revenue stream in selling carbon on the domestic market.

Responding to customer feedback, the Forestry Commission have made some changes to the seventh auction, taking place online between 15-21 May 2023. These include the removal of project categories for easy customer access and the publication of the reserve price – £30 per Woodland Carbon Unit – to provide more clarity to prospective applicants.

Details of how the seventh auction will operate, including a list of eligible tree species for woodland establishment projects, can be found in the Guide to the Seventh Auction.

Richard Stanford, Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, said: “Now in its seventh round, it’s encouraging that the Guarantee has continued to grow in its success, supporting the creation of 2,810 hectares of new woodland specifically to help combat the many and varied impacts of climate change by increasing tree-planting across the country.

“I strongly encourage farmers, foresters and land managers across England to submit their applications to the Guarantee ahead of the application deadline on 30 April.”

The launch of the seventh round follows the success of the sixth auction, which closed on 27 November with nine contracts offered by the Forestry Commission to incentivise the creation of 60 hectares of new woodland to mitigate climate change.

Enhancing the diversity of woodlands and tree species is a key aspect of the government’s plan to treble tree planting rates in England and establish 30,000 hectares of trees across the UK per year by 2025.

Before applying to the scheme, land managers must register with the Woodland Carbon Code to gain access to the tools and information required to verify and record carbon being captured and intended for sale in the future.

Applications for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee can be submitted here. To learn more about the five-stage application process, please see Getting Started with the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.